🔗 Share this article

Amid freezing rain, flurries, and a biting wind from the waters of the Humber Estuary, alongside a resolute home side fighting for promotion, this presented all the ingredients of a difficult night's work for the visitors.

"We could have added to our tally but the opposition are a good team and it was a tough tie; I’m delighted with the display," the manager stated. "Hull City means a lot to me so it was great to get a positive welcome from the fans of supporters. The attitude of the players was excellent."

The Rosenior has this place close to his heart, given part of his relatives are from Hull and his successful period in management of the Tigers. This happy association was extended with a magnificent performance from his team, who ultimately strolled into the next round of the FA Cup.

Deadly Edge Seals Comprehensive Victory

Three days after surrendering a two-goal advantage in the league, there was a hint of fragility about them going into this intriguing tie. The capacity Hull support clearly sensed it too, but Rosenior's men navigated the task with ease.

The manager made alterations, enacting multiple of them to his XI. The match could and perhaps ought to have been settled earlier than it eventually was, with both Estêvão Willian and the forward guilty of missing excellent opportunities to put Chelsea in front in the opening period.

But, fortunately for the visitors, their Portuguese attacker was in a much more ruthless frame of mind. He opened the scoring with a spectacular distance effort, which proved to be the catalyst for Chelsea to take control of proceedings. By full time, they had 4 goals, with the forward netting a trio of them for a brilliant three-goal haul.

Delap's Response and Influence

Hull showed great spirit throughout, but the better opportunities always came to the visitors. The winger should have opened the deadlock when he rounded keeper the Hull stopper before unbelievably shooting over. Delap then had a comparable nightmare incident in front of goal against his former club.

He deflected a Phillips's kick which bounced off the crossbar, and he started to run away believing the ball had gone over the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he understood, Hull's backline had responded to clear the danger.

The player had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was immensely instrumental from there on out, providing three assists. The opening was for the first goal as his through ball teed up Neto to finish from range. Shortly after the restart, it was two as the forward's set-piece went directly in under Phillips's legs.

Contest Put Beyond Doubt and Focus Shifts

Seven minutes after the second goal, the tie was put beyond doubt as a magnificent run from the forward teed up his teammate to tap into an unguarded goal. Neto then completed his treble as Delap once again delivered the crucial pass for the striker to calmly slot past a stranded Phillips.

By that stage, the work Hull had put in in the first thirty minutes had been forgotten. Their priority must now switch back to achieving a return to the Premier League under Sergej Jakirovic, who rested several key individuals with that goal in mind.

"I think we earned at least one goal but if we perform like this we will be in a very good situation in the league," the Hull manager commented. "Never surrender, maybe in the upcoming matches this can be a positive lesson of how we should play."

There was plenty of effort to the final whistle, and they almost got a late goal when a substitute hit a post in stoppage time. But this was Chelsea’s night, and another encouraging step forward for their new head coach at a stadium he knows very well.

Cup History Are Promising

That made for an in the end straightforward evening’s performance, and the FA Cup-shaped omens are positive from here for the winners. They have faced Hull on three other times in this tournament in the last decade and every single time, they have gone on to make the final. Much remains to be done in that regard, but this was another significant positive for Rosenior.